Milk-jar cap.



PATBNTED APR. 5, 1904.

w. E. HEATH. MILK JAR GAP.

APPLIUATION FILED SEPT. 15, 1903.

' no MODEL.

lmlllll fillllllll I atbozneq Patented April 5, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

, WILLIAM ELISHA HEATH, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE STANDARD BOTTLE-CAP CORPORATION, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE. r

MILK-JAR CAP. I

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 756,234, dated April 5, 1904:.

Application filed eptember 15, 1903. Serial No. 173,307. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM ELIsIIA HEATH,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore city, Maryland, have invented certain '5 new and useful Improvements in Milk-Jar Caps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a fulL'cIear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to. which it appertains to make and I use the same.

This invention relates to certain improvements in sealing devices for bottles, jars; and

other receptacles; and it relates more particu larly to scaling caps or disks for milk-jars. v The invention consists of a stiff somewhat elastic disk of cardboard or other pulped or fibrous paper or equivalent materialhaving a finger-opening cut therethrough and a sheet of readily torn or severed paper or other equiva- 2 lent sealing or approximately impervious thin sheet material pasted or otherwise secured on the stiff disk to normally close the opening therethrough, whereby the sealing-disk can be readily and easily removed from the milk- 2 5 jar by puncturing the thin sheet where it spans or closes said opening with the finger or any suitable device and then pulling the cap from the jar-mouth. Y V

An object of the invention is to provide an 3 exceedingly simple and economical sealingdisk for milk-jars, whichnan be readily applied to the jar and will completely seal and cover the mouth thereof, and which can be readily removed fromthe jar by the fingers 3 5 and without the use of tabs, which are liable to tear off.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the mouth portion of themilk-jar sealed by a disk or cap 4 constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken vertically through the construction shown in Fig. 1. Fig.

3 is a perspective view of the mouth portion of the milk-jar sealed by a cap or disk in accordance with my invention, difiering in construction from that shown in the previous views. Fig. 4c is a vertical sectional view of the construction shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken vertically through a cap andmilk-jar mouth, showing a somewhat dif- 5 ferent construction of sealing cap or disk. Fig. 6 is also a sectional view through amilkjar-mouth portion and a somewhat different construction of sealing-disk.

- In the drawings, a is the milk-jar, having any suitable sealing-seat, such as Z), formed in the interior of its neck at the mouth of the jar and usually a short distance below thetop edge of the neck of the jar. This annular seat or shoulder b is usually flat, and the vertical inner wall 0 of'the neck or mouthv portion of the jar above the seat I) is usually flared or enlarged downwardly and outwardly to form a locking-shoulder to hold the sealing cap or disk down tightly on the seat I) and in sealing position.

d is a flat circular disk formed of comparatively stiff cardboard or other equivalent material having the desired elasticity and stiifness and of a diameter greater than the smallest diameter of the interior of the bottle-neck above the seat 6, so that the said disk can be forced into the bottle-neck and onto the seat 6 to maintain the tight seal by springing under the locking-shoulder formed by the wall c. It is usually diflicult to remove milk jar sealing-caps when thus sprung intosealing position by reason of the stiffness and elasticity of the caps or disks. Various means have been devised to enable the caps to be removed-such as tabs, open slots out through the disks, notches in the edges of the 'jarmouth to receive a tool, &c,; but in my experience I have found that each of the foregoing arrangements is open to certain ob- 5 jections either in use or in the process of manufacturing the sealing-caps. I have attained clear advantages by forming the disk of stiff material (Z, with a preferably central opening 6 out completely through the stiff 9 material 03 and with the material thus cut out completely removed. I usually form this opening 6 of a size to permit the passage of a finger therethrough, so that when the finger is crooked beneath the disk upward pressure of the finger will remove the disk easily from the jar-mouth. It is exceedingly desirable and essential that the completed sealing cap or disk be imperforate to completely seal the jar and prevent contamination of the milk from outside substances or odors. To this end I close the opening 0 by one or more sheets of thin fragile or readily torn or severed paper f or other equivalent sheet material. The

thin sheet or sheets f are pasted or cemented to the stiff cardboard disk d, so as to completely cover and close the openinge and render the sealing-cap imperforate when completed or as an entirety. This sheet f can cover or partially cover either the upper or lower face of the cap. Figs. 3 and 4 show the sheet of thin readily-severed paper covering the under face of the cap. In Figs. 1 and 2 two sheets f are shown covering or approximately covering both faces of the disk, so that the central opening 6 is doubly bridged or covered.

The thick disk d can be formed of several thicknesses of cardboard or the like cemented or otherwise fastened together, and in Figs. 5 and 6 I show the thin easily-torn piece f completely covering the opening 6 and secured between layers or plies of the stiff disk d.

I usually render either or both faces of the completed cap impervious by the application of paraflin or by any other suitable treatment to render the paper fabric non-absorbent.

Any suitable method can be followed in manufacturing the caps described, and I do not wish to limit my invention to completely covering a face of the cap with the flexible thin paper fabric, for, if desired, in the process-of manufacturing strips or ribbons of the thin paper can be cemented diametrically across the stiff disk to completely close and seal the opening 0.

It is evident that various changes can be made in the forms, constructions, and arrange ments of the parts described without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and hence I do not wish to limit myself to the exact construction shown.

What I claim is i 1. A sealing-cap comprising a stiff cardboard disk having an intermediate portion out out and removed to form an opening and a readily-torn thin paper sheet sealing and closing said opening.

2. A milk-jar cap comprising the cardboard disk having a finger-opening and readily-severed means normally sealing and closing said opening.

3. A milk-jar cap comprising the stiff disk with the central portion cut out and removed to form a finger-opening and a sheet of easilytorn approximately impervious paper secured to the disk and closing said opening, whereby the cap can be removed by forcing the finger through the sheet and opening.

4:. A sealing-cap consisting of a cardboard disk having an opening formed therethrough and a thin sheet of paper secured to the disk and bridging and closing said opening for the purpose substantially as described.

5. A sealing-cap comprising a stiff disk of paper fabric having the central finger-opening cut therethrough and a sheet of readily-torn paper material closing said opening and located intermediate the top and bottom faces of the disk.

6. A milk-jar sealing-cap comprising a stiff disk formed by several plies of paper mate rial having the central finger-opening cut therethrough and a sheet of paper closing said Cripeliiing and secured between two plies of said In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM ELISHA HEATH.

Witnesses:

HUBERT E. PECK, E. R. PECK. 

